By that, I mean he's going bald and doesn't like it. So he took Rogaine or minoxidil or some sort of baldness treatment. It contained tamoxifen, a prescription drug normally used to treat breast cancer. It is one of approximately 140 items on the NBA's banned list. For privacy reasons, nobody has publicly said Calathes' "medical issue" is baldness. But all you have to do is listen to the whispers and take a look at him. "He's going bald at 24," one person said. "Nobody wants to do that."

Nobody wants the world to know they're slathering on Rogaine, either. As a member of the Receding Hair Club for Men, I hate to bring it up. But it's worse for Calathes if people think he was trying to cheat the game instead of merely trying to cheat Mother Nature. "He's not covering anything up. Not Nick, you kidding me?" said Steve Kohn, who coached Lake Howell to a state title in 2007. "He's a model citizen. He doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink, he doesn't party. He's been like that all of his life."

Calathes declined interview requests, but his lawyer was glad to talk. "They're throwing the baby out with the bathwater," David Cornwell said, "and they know it."

Not exactly. Cornwell and the players union say tamoxifen isn't a PED. But it can be used as a masking agent and raises testosterone levels. It is also banned by Major League Baseball and the World Anti-Doping Agency. "It's easily in the top 10 of banned substances found in drug tests," NBA general counsel Rick Buchanan said. The league can't judge intent, so players have strict liability when it comes testing. And the NBA's bottom line is not outrageous. "You are responsible for the pill you put in your mouth," Buchanan said.

He knew the effects and banning implications just as any sports doctor.
IMO there's more to this story.
Lance Armstrong demonstrated to everybody all too well just how "innocent" use of PED's are in sports and on so many levels. Zero tolerance means just that. or "The Question" really should be do you just finally allow/accept them or not or do you wait until a new line of pharms or new masking agents and their counters are invented. The game continues....